Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Palin For Veep?

So the Token Dem and I were talking today about McCain's VEEP selection.

Being unnuanced in GOP-think, he went to Huckabee as the logical guy, which kind of curled the edges of my gray matter since adding a guy who's great on social issues but RINO on economic issues is hardly what McCain needs.

"What we need," I said, "is someone younger to balance out the age thing, and strong on economic issues, to balance out his gaffe there."

"I'm having trouble thinking of young, attractive Republicans," he said in that oh-so-smug Obama supporter tone.

Well, no sooner do I go back to my desk and click through two or three emails, than suddenly this blog was in front of my face:

How about that? The Alaska Gov, primed and ready for the GOP Veep slot. And according to the Palin for VP blog, there's a bit of momentum going on:

3. WeeklyStandard.com has suggested Palin not once, but twice for the VP nomination.

4. And here's the big one: Governor Palin is running THIRD (tied) in RealClearPolitics' "Veepstakes!" Only Condoleeza Rice and J.C. Watts recieved more mentions, and Colin Powell had to settle for a tie with Sarah. Other major contenders left in Palin's dust include Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Michael Steele, Bobby Jindal, Charlie Crist, and Kay Bailey Hutchison.

The blog also posts this:

My latest find was this comment on a recent Daily Kos post (bolding added):Sarah Palin would be by far be the most attractive VP for McCain (literally and figuartively). That's probably the toughest ticket we could face (assuming Lieberman is telling the truth when he says he won't run with McCain). But I think most likely, McCain will choose someone under age 50 to off-set concerns about his age and make him seem less like an insider, so Tim Pawlenty or John Thune could also be possible choices.I don't think McCain is stupid enough to choose Huckabee (The Republican base would explode) or Rice (Do you really want THAT strong of a connection to the Bush administration?).

Where is she on policy? Who cares! McCain needs a hottie on his ticket, right? Just kidding, although she single-handedly knocks off the post-Mitt GOP ugly stick, doesn't she?

Back to policy. Let's talk polar bears. C-SM readers know I've seen through the political gambit the radical enviros are playing with their proposed threatened listing of the polar bear, and Palin sees it too, writing in an NYT op/ed:

This month, the secretary of the interior is expected to rule on whether polar bears should be listed under the Endangered Species Act. I strongly believe that adding them to the list is the wrong move at this time. My decision is based on a comprehensive review by state wildlife officials of scientific information from a broad range of climate, ice and polar bear experts.

The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, has argued that global warming and the reduction of polar ice severely threatens the bears’ habitat and their existence. In fact, there is insufficient evidence that polar bears are in danger of becoming extinct within the foreseeable future — the trigger for protection under the Endangered Species Act. And there is no evidence that polar bears are being mismanaged through existing international agreements and the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Any pol who takes on the CBD in the NYT is a pol after my heart. Beyond polar bears, GOP activists will note she's pro-life and opposes same-sex marriage, although she supports equal rights for gay couples short of marriage (my position, too).

Token Dem made a crack about Alaska being a den of GOP corruption to which I responded, "sort of like a Louisiana for Republicans" (heh), but it got me thinking, so I Wiki'd this:

Governor Murkowski did appoint Palin to serve as a commissioner on the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission which she served on during 2003–2004, but later resigned, in protest over what she perceived to be the "lack of ethics" of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders. This included the state party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, a fellow commissioner, who was accused of doing work for the party on public time and providing a sensitive email to a lobbyist. She filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former state Attorney General Gregg Renkes, who was eventually found not guilty.

Nice story. But on the negative side, polar bears notwithstanding, she's glommed onto the global warming bandwagon, proposing to create a new sub-cabinet to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska. Sub-sub-sub cabinet would be better. Alaska would benefit from global warming ... if it ever happens.

All in all, I confess: I'm too new to Palin to say she's #1 for the #2 slot, but she's definitely an intriguing possibility.

"Thank you for the "Voice of the Victims films. The students really liked them, and it means so much to them to hear real stories and not watch a cheesy drama like so many other videos."
— High school teacher.